


The Hole in the Wall

by Waywocket



Series: The True Stories of The Friendly Shadow [2]
Category: Autodale (Web Series)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26342134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waywocket/pseuds/Waywocket
Summary: There are rumors floating around Autodale about a hole in the wall. It's Shadow's job to figure out what's going on.
Series: The True Stories of The Friendly Shadow [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1898269
Kudos: 8





	The Hole in the Wall

There had been rumors floating around again. Whispers of a hole in the wall of Autodale. That something sinister was creeping among the citizens. Rumors that something was threatening their model life.

The Friendly Shadow sipped silently at his coffee while he turned on the television. He really didn’t care about the lies and treachery they spilled, but it looked good to know what was said. 

"Hello, Citizens of Autodale!" The cartoon Handyman blinked and seemed to smile. "This Public Service Announcement is following ludicrous concerns and whispers we've been hearing as of late. Silly claims of a hole along our city walls! Rumors of danger in our Autodale. There is no danger here. Not in Autodale!”

Shadow scoffs and finishes his coffee. They should at least wait until they knew it was safe to be spouting off their nonsense. 

All the same, these were rumors worth listening to. It was better to deal with this now than have to chase a Freak around later and risk a body count. He couldn’t stomach any more senseless deaths.

Stepping outside, he adjusted his hat to cover his eyes from the bright morning sun. It was a long way to the edge of the city.

Plenty of time for his mind to wander where it shouldn’t. He could still see them when he closed his eyes. So, he tried not to close them.

Most of the rumors were about feeling wind running along the outer wall or strange scratching noises. 

Shadow pressed his hand against the wall and sighed, he missed being able to feel properly. But it was better at least. Better than before. 

Shaking the thoughts from his mind Shadow focused on his work. He may not be able to feel the wind, but he could still find a breach if it was there. It would just take some time.

Sure enough, he found what he was looking for. After pacing along the edge, he found it, a large hole hidden behind a small grove of trees.

Running his hand over the hole, he hummed softly. It was a large hole, but not big enough for a Freak. He hardly fit through after bending at the waist.

Still worth checking out. Something else might be getting through, and they could be just as dangerous.

The deeper he went, he worried more when it never got wider, barely enough for him to get through. He wondered what would use something so small.

Pressing a hand to his temple, he hesitated. “Hive? Do we know of anything else that might be out there?”

“Nothing, as far as we know. Just some Uglies and the Freaks seem able to survive out there.”

He hummed at that as he finally got through. Maybe it was an escape route? He felt something hit the bottom of his stomach at the thought. They’d be patching this hole up very soon. At least outside the walls of Autodale, they stood a chance, no matter how slim.

Outside the wall, it was worse than he thought. It was high up from the ground outside. The only way up or down was to scale steep sides of stone and dirt. Worse, it was covered in corpses and old bones. His stomach turned at the sight.

Likely the bodies of people trying to get away from Autodale, he thought. “Looks like people were leaving.” He couldn’t see their masks, but he supposed they would have tossed them away, or they had fallen farther.

At least until he turned around. There were scratches and chips along the outside of the wall, along the edge of the hole. Realization struck him like a ton of bricks, and for a moment, he couldn’t breathe.

“Hive! These weren’t people leaving. They were trying to get in!”

“So it would seem, Shadow. And by the looks of it, someone has likely made it in.”

“Hive, why aren’t we trying to help them?” He looked out from the ledge to see if there was anyone nearby. How often were people coming here?

A soft laugh. “Shadow, look at them. They’re not very Pretty, are they? Sneaking around our city to slither their way in. We certainly couldn’t care for outsiders now, can we?”

He ground his teeth at that. He should have guessed that would be what they thought. “They were so desperate, they tunneled through ten feet of stone.”

“And somehow slipped under the gaze of our Handymen. We’ll have to find the blind spot.”

They really didn’t care. He didn’t know why he thought Hive would, they weren’t model citizens.

But seeing it turned his stomach and brought tears to his eyes. They were desperate, even if they didn’t know what kind of life was beyond these walls, they thought it was better than living out there. They had tried so hard, and this was the welcome they got.

He ran a hand over the markings and sighed. It wasn’t right, but there wasn’t anything he could do. Hive wouldn’t allow it. His job was to protect people, and yet it seemed like the one thing he could never do.

“Come on, Shadow, you’ve done a fine job. Let the Handymen fill up this gap and go home.”

“Right,” he agreed, forlorn. With a glance out into the wastes outside the walls, where gravity seemed to fail, he bent down and went back through the hole. 

He knew what he would be hunting for next.

He hoped he never found them.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, it came out a little choppy. This one came after the first plot wise, but it won't always be like this!


End file.
